I love you and you are not here' in their correspondence. His condition did not improve, and he abandoned the diet prescribed by his doctors, indulging himself in food and drink. Dio adds that from Marcus's first days as counsellor to Antoninus to his final days as emperor of Rome, "he remained the same [person] and did not change in the least. [86], After taking the toga virilis in 136, Marcus probably began his training in oratory. Barnes, 'Hadrian and Lucius Verus', p. 66. The next day, 1 December, Antoninus gave Marcus the tribunician power and the imperium – authority over the armies and provinces of the emperor. In the East, the Roman Empire fought successfully with a revitalized Parthian Empire and the rebel Kingdom of Armenia. At some time between 155 and 161, probably soon after 155, Marcus's mother Domitia Lucilla died. He was immediately deified and his ashes were returned to Rome, where they rested in Hadrian's mausoleum (modern Castel Sant'Angelo) until the Visigoth sack of the city in 410. Marcus, with his preference for the philosophic life, found the imperial office unappealing. Marcus Aurelius writes ( Meditations 11.3): What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be separated from the body, and ready either to be extinguished or dispersed or continue to exist; but so that this readiness comes from a man's own judgement, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but considerately and with dignity and in a way to persuade another, without tragic show. Almost exactly ten years ago, I bought the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius on Amazon. [72] At the senate's request, Marcus joined all the priestly colleges (pontifices, augures, quindecimviri sacris faciundis, septemviri epulonum, etc. [150] This may have been a genuine horror imperii, 'fear of imperial power'. This new impetus westwards was probably due to attacks from tribes further east. [8] Some other literary sources provide specific details: the writings of the physician Galen on the habits of the Antonine elite, the orations of Aelius Aristides on the temper of the times, and the constitutions preserved in the Digest and Codex Justinianeus on Marcus's legal work. In 161, the. By Marcus Aurelius. [173] At the ceremonies commemorating the event, new provisions were made for the support of poor children, along the lines of earlier imperial foundations. [125][306] One son and four daughters outlived their father. [307] Their children included: Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree. A coin issue celebrates fecunditati Augustae, 'the Augusta's fertility', depicting two girls and an infant. [232], In the middle of the war, perhaps in autumn 163 or early 164, Lucius made a trip to Ephesus to be married to Marcus's daughter Lucilla. [182] Marcus told Fronto of his reading – Coelius and a little Cicero – and his family. [159], Immediately after their senate confirmation, the emperors proceeded to the Castra Praetoria, the camp of the Praetorian Guard. [82] Never particularly healthy or strong, Marcus was praised by Cassius Dio, writing of his later years, for behaving dutifully in spite of his various illnesses. [44] One of his teachers, Diognetus, a painting master, proved particularly influential; he seems to have introduced Marcus Aurelius to the philosophic way of life. [102], He wrote Fronto a letter on his birthday, claiming to love him as he loved himself, and calling on the gods to ensure that every word he learnt of literature, he would learn 'from the lips of Fronto'. [209] M. Annius Libo, Marcus's first cousin, was sent to replace the Syrian governor. He had rested, and would rest often, but 'this devotion to duty! The Harvard Classics. Written nearly 2000 Years ago, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life. Pulleyblank, Leslie and Gardiner, pp. Before the end of the year, another family coin was issued: it shows only a tiny girl, Domitia Faustina, and one boy baby. On the cover Marcus is shown in relief, pardoning the barbarians. That doesn’t mean he isn’t brilliant. [200], There was threat of war on other frontiers as well – in Britain, and in Raetia and Upper Germany, where the Chatti of the Taunus mountains had recently crossed over the limes. [133] By 28 March 158, when Marcus replied, another of his children was dead. [272] He took great care in the theory and practice of legislation. Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163. The Parthian army dispersed in the Tigris. 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